Pan American Silver sales in 2011 breaks all time records

VANCOUVER (Scrap Monster): Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS; TSX: PAA), has reported strong financial results for the fourth quarter of 2011 and new all-time Company records for sales, net income, mine operating earnings and cash flow from operations for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011.

In addition, the Company provided an update on its operations, a forecast for consolidated production and cash costs for 2012, as well as further information with respect to Management’s expectations for the completion of the proposed acquisition of Minefinders Corporation Ltd.

Q4 2011Highlights:

--Silver production of 5.3 million ounces.
--Gold production of 17,239 ounces.
--Consolidated cash costs(2) of $11.18 per ounce of silver, net of by-product credits.
--Mine operating earnings(3) of $88.3 million.
--Net earnings of $95.5 million or $0.89 per share.
--Adjusted earnings(4) of $64.5 million or $0.61 per share.
--Cash flow from operations before changes in working capital(5) of $79.2 million or $0.74 per share.
--Sales of $212.4 million.

2011 Year-End Highlights

--Silver production of 21.9 million ounces.
--Gold production of 78,426 ounces.
--Cash costs(2) of $9.44 per ounce of silver, net of by-product credits.
--Record mine operating earnings(3) of $409.1 million.
--Record net earnings of $354.1 million, or $3.31 per share.
--Record adjusted earnings(4) of $252.3 million, or $2.37 per share.
--Record cash flow from operations before changes in working capital(5) of $347.4 million or $3.26 per share.
--Record revenue of $855.3 million.
--Cash and short term investments of $491.2 million at December 31, 2011.
--Working capital of $566.4 million at December 31, 2011.
--Invested approximately $94 million to repurchase approximately 3.6 million shares of the Company under the Company's normal course issuer bid, or approximately 3.3% of the Company’s issued and outstanding stock(6).
--Paid total cash dividends of $0.10 per common share.

2012 Forecast and Plans
--Complete the acquisition of Minefinders by the end of Q1 2012.
--Produce 21.5 to 22.5 million ounces of silver at cash costs of $12.50 to $13.50 per ounce, net of by-product credits.
--Assuming the successful acquisition of Minefinders, the Company’s production could increase to production of 24.1 to 25.1  million ounces of silver, while gold production could rise from 75,000 to 80,000 ounces to 131,000 to 136,000 ounces of gold(7), which includes nine months of estimated production from the Dolores mine.
--Finalize a Feasibility Study for the Navidad development project.
--Finalize a Feasibility Study for the La Preciosa development project.